Study: Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy can cut infusion medication costs by more than half
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy on Thursday released data showing that both patients and their health plans can realize savings of up to 60% on the cost of infused specialty medications by choosing alternate treatment sites. The cost savings was the key finding from new data being presented at the 2012 Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute Annual Drug Benefit Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.
An analysis of Walgreens internal data shows the opportunity for significant cost savings when health plans and patients shift infusion services from high-cost sites-of-care, such as outpatient hospital settings, to lower-cost sites, such as Walgreens Specialty Care Centers or other alternate treatment locations. The Walgreens analysis focused on sites-of-care for infused specialty medications, which can cost between $500 and $20,000 per treatment. The top 10 specialty medications being infused at outpatient hospitals included eight chemotherapy and two nonchemotherapy agents. The study found that outpatient hospital drug costs were, on average, 86% higher than costs at alternate sites, and that the two nonchemotherapy infusions alone were able to deliver $6.3 million in savings per 1 million commercial health plan beneficiaries per year.
“Considering the heightened focus on healthcare cost reductions, the most notable finding is that there are significant opportunities to reduce costs simply by having patients receive their health services at an alternate location,” said Michael Einodshofer, director of utilization management at Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy. “The potential benefits go beyond saving money, as lower-cost alternate treatment sites can help improve medication compliance and provide more convenient patient access to treatment, without compromising quality or safety.”
Two of the biggest hurdles to using alternate treatment sites are lack of awareness of available options and limited awareness of the benefits, Einodshofer added. In many cases, an alternate treatment site could be a patient’s home or place of employment. Walgreens is one of the largest home infusion providers, offering access to patient care in their homes, workplace health centers, and Walgreens Specialty Care Centers across the country. These alternate treatment sites provide convenient, cost-effective access to patients who require monitored infusible and injectable medications.
“We recognize that many physicians are looking for alternate sites for their patients’ infusions, and that health plans and patients are looking for new high quality and cost-effective options,” Einodshofer said. “The major benefits of the Walgreens site-of-care optimization management plan are that patients continue to receive their necessary medications uninterrupted; healthcare providers continue to prescribe specialty medications without any new administrative burden; and payer costs have been shown to drop significantly.”
Interested in this topic? Sign up for our weekly Collaborative Care e-newsletter.